


Fries & Homicide Investigation

by Lady_Noremon



Category: Lifeline (Video Game 2015), Lifeline Series - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Self-Insert, The Green Series, crisis line
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 23:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9209333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Noremon/pseuds/Lady_Noremon
Summary: Alex/Lifeline, or specifally Alex/Captain fluff. Written to ease some of the Alex sadness in the Discord chat!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written after @hurricanesunny in the official Lifeline Discord chat was sharing excerpts from [a Lifeline/Alex fanfic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9204635) she was requested to write. She requested screenshots from me of parts from " _Lifeline: Crisis Line_ " like the bats part. And that lead to sad Alex conversation, and then how much he pours his heart/feeling out to the player. The conversation right before you arrest the murder suspect even reads like a dating sim confession; only with more arresting a murderer and less kissing. So I joked I should write a fluffy self-insert fanfic to lighten the sadness. So I did so XD! I felt kinda D: writing self-insert shippyness but the Discord gave encouragement. I wasn't planning to upload this publicly, but given my last upload was of Alex passing-out from blood loss this is for balance. There's also an in-joke regarding Captain/Alex so I tried to add more shippyness than originally planned after being reminded of it!
> 
> \-----

The passenger seat is warm in the afternoon sun, the fabric course under her knees where her shorts stop. Even with the windows cracked it still feels stifling, the faint smell of upholstery cleaner permeating the vehicle. At least this dry heat isn't a smothering as the humidity where she's from. And at least it isn't a patrol car, where the seat-like an aeroplane seat-seems too far ahead for comfort. Detective Esposito has gone into the restaurant to speak with one of the victim's neighbours, an older woman who works behind the counter. And his "Captain" waits in the car. It's one of those all organic fast food spots, a type that is all too common in Austin. He's promised her some fries, but going by his horror stories of the "hipster" food she's not too sure about splitter a meal deal here. Alex does the socialising leg work for cases, even if she wasn't an unpaid consultant it's not ideal when she's so awkward at eye contact and fidgeting. It's not like in " _The Mentalist_ " where Patrick Jane can go swanning in and take over the investigation with theatrics. Her job comes in-between the face-to-face times. That partnership that worked so well over HelpText, now even better in person. Alex is a skilled detective, knowing how to read people & do business much better than her, but she can store so many little details and puzzle them out. They make an excellent team--And Dietz gets to stick to doing his desk work, which is his skill and makes him very happy. Maybe not as happy as tacos, but it's an ideal arrangement. She doesn't mind the waiting, frankly she's likely to just nap if it goes on long. She doesn't mind Alex being amused by it either. She doesn't really have the stamina for the 9/17 shift rotation or extended surveillance. But it's not like she's on salary so sleeping on the job isn't so bad. He jokes about her higher seniority nickname when she does. 

She'd like to put the stereo on, or play music from her device; But that might draw attention to how long the unmarked car had been there though, and she forgot her headphones. She can keep track of the type of tires a truck had and a suspect's age, but not enough to remember to stuff the earbuds into her pocket when they were leaving this morning. A murder investigation is a lot less fast-paced and action filled than it's usually portrayed. " _Don't tell anyone, but police work is mostly incredibly boring._ " she snorts remembering from their first case together and his joking about searching for evidence. She'd say it's more " _tedious_ " than boring, but that's a moot point given all the waiting. It reminds her of working as a television movie production assistant, a flurry of activity & then spaces of biding time. Not like in theatre where it is always things to hurry and do behind the curtains! Homicide detective work is a mixture of the two though, no 'do overs', but times when a warrant or analysis isn't ready there's not much to do but see how the case develops. And what's developing right now is Alex is in there asking the employee for her account of when her neighbours returned to their apartment the other night. He's speaking with her in the restaurant's back room, being treated like a witness rather than a suspect. He's careful like that, keeping all the cards close. Even when he doesn't like someone at all he puts on his mask and they rarely ever now. It's the same with his fear or loneliness too, he keeps it all steeled away from everyone. But he's getting better at letting people in, and learning to add to his strength from others.--It's not being weak, it's unity. And his reaching-out for help is how they'd met. In his most dire hour he let her in as a lifeline. A partnership deeper than the one of the homicide division. They'd been through so much together, the majority of which they can't even talk about to anyone else. But it's become beyond just the partnership shared secrets & traumatic events. Regular homicide investigation is tame compared to their first case together. And beyond they've gotten to know their everyday selves. 

She glances over to just catch one of the doors opening. She smiles watching her detective shake the paper bag above his head in the car's direction, his dowdy suit not matching his youthful look. The talk must have gone well. He opens the driver's door and tosses the bag to her, leaning to kiss her temple before sliding in. It must have gone really well, she can almost feel his smile. She'll wait for him to expound on it though, he enjoys showing-off with his findings to her more than if she asks. The food actually smells good from the wafting steam as she opens the bag. He'd bought a combo and the damn ketchup is in paper cups. His shaking it around spattering the condiment all throughout everything else. She'd wanted to wait to eat during the drive but it will just soak into the contents if they wait. She works on dividing the contents up and wiping it off as he tells her the account he was just given. Eating in the car isn't an unusual activity for Detective Esposito, it might as well be his office, so there's a stash of wet wipes and napkins next to his deodorant in the dash. She hands him his burger on a makeshift plate of serviettes to not stain his suit trousers while she shovels her fries into her mouth. She's not usually a fan of french fries but these actually have a nice amount of salt. Most of these types of places seem to have a fear of it for health reasons. Someone else talking might think she wasn't listening but by now he knows she's taking it all in. These lunch exchanges have become a tradition for them now, something probably not good for them, eaten in the unmarked car, using the dashboard as a table when required. At first he tried to impress her by taking her in places to eat, to show how connected he was with workers and regulars, and how knowledgeable he is of a ridiculous amount of menus. But impressing was never really needed, it's something that just comes naturally between the two. Only ever needing themselves. She struggles to open a wet wipe, wanting to get the some of the salt, fried potato crumbs, and ketchup off before she scribbles a few notes. It's good to keep track of things by more than just memorising when you're dealing with a pursuit of justice. Her 4 colour pen scurrying over her legal pad to keep up. They'll do a recap of it all once they get on the road, but she wants to record a few notes while it's still fresh. It's a different way of working together than when he was carrying HelpText around in the fray. She was always there right along with his smartphone...except the times they don't like thinking on when it was ripped or clattered out of his hand. But even if she isn't always with him in a digital sense, he knows she's always nearby. If this was " _Castle_ " she'd be right in there with him, but it's less accepted by persons of interest in real life. She'd probably be much more glamorous too if this weren't real life. 

She hates waiting in the car while he goes over locations. Evidence collection isn't something that she can do from a distance. He's called her while he's combing the apartment complex's yard, but it feels more like she's using a remote controlled car than actually helping him. She isn't trained in how to work and enter a crime scene however and could be a liability a defence attorney would latch onto if she did. It's understandable to not add any chance of contamination for the case. So instead she's sitting from her command post and Alex has crawled under a shed to see what that glint his flashlight caught was. He'd come back to leave his suit jacket at least, but it's going to look horrible if they have to make any unexpected inquires between now and the station. Even though they know she would in his place, it's something he has to do. She can't even hand him an evidence bag when he has to wrangle his door open to get one out of his pocket. It's parts like this she feels like a ghost. Not really there in corporeal form. Just a presence to bounce plans and ideas off. But it's all worth it, and they've found something that was missed. They'd better get it back for analysis to not leave any weird spaces in the chain of evidence times. He looks gorgeous all dishevelled with damp mossy mud smeared on his white shirt and crumpled tie. It will show on his knees as it dries and it's an hilarious but wonderful picture. She moves his jacket to the backseat once he's secured the new evidence, no need to have to get the stains out of it too. Though that can lead to another wonderful picture if they were purposely to get mud and grass rubbed into it. Maybe when they aren't on duty, and she chuckles to herself. Alex takes it as her laughing at his state, adjusting his necktie and rolling his sleeves back down. Once he's behind the wheel she places a suggestive but reassuring hand over on his thigh while he fastens himself in, leaning over to meet his lips as he catches the hint. They share a laugh as well once he starts the ignition and she adjusts the stereo for shuffle. It's one of her playlist songs that slowly starts from the speakers as they pull out of the parking lot. Duran Duran's " _Proposition_ " building to its chorus, a suitable musical tone for the late afternoon drive back. She recalls reading an interview where the band explained it was about being a united force against injustice. The verses dipping down in the spaces of Simon's pleas. The lyrics if disected as their words can give a different impression, and she watches his face as he navigates the roads. " _A body bleeds for this coalition..._ " she points-out a drive thru for their last before returning stop. 

She doesn't have much usefulness directly in the Austin Police Department station. It's been a long day though so she takes the time to rest instead of fidgeting nervously in the waiting area. Plopping the takeout bag onto Dietz's desk for when he returns to do the bulk of today's paperwork. She does her check out and goes to wander the cooling air as her ride is going to be awhile. They've done progress today even if all the pieces haven't revealed themselves or fallen into place. With hope it's enough progress to bring closure to this investigation, but they've opened up more lines to follow wherever it leads. Straight on, all the way through.


End file.
